Another Teenage Heartbreak Love Song
by thecelery
Summary: When James Diamond doesn't even want to go tanning, you know something's definitely wrong with him.  mild slash. oneshot.


James was sitting at the breakfast bar in apartment 2J, slowly eating a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. He hadn't had much of an appetite for the past few days, but he was feeling sort of hungry, and he was always down for a good PB&J. It was oddly quiet in the apartment. The rest of the boys had gone out for a quick dip in the famous Palm Woods pool, but James wasn't in the swimming mood. He hadn't been in the mood for anything lately.

Mrs. Knight had begun to worry about his unJames-like behavior after having read all those magazines in Doctor Hollywood's waiting room about teenage depression.

"I'm okay, Mrs. Knight, I promise," James reassured her, "It's not depression, it's...something else."

"Would you care to elaborate?" she asked, awaiting a response from the brunette boy.

"Not really," he answered her apologetically, "It's kinda private."

She had read in the article "How To Talk To Teens" that sometimes they needed their personal space and time to let whatever it was that was bothering them sink in for a little bit before freaking out, so she decided to let James be James for the time being.

"Okay, honey but if it gets any worse, I _will_ be taking you to a doctor!"

James nodded at her and got up from the seat at the counter to rinse his plate and dispose of the other half of his sandwich, which he was sure was delicious but he couldn't eat another bite or he'd risk throwing up like he had the night before. He sighed and headed toward the bedroom he shared with his best friend Carlos. Once inside, he outstretched his arms as he fell into his small but comfortable bed.

He decided never to speak of it to another soul. Not right now, at least. But he had figured out two days prior that he was just maybe a tiny little bit in love with Carlos.

_Just a bit,_ he reasoned with himself.

James had always liked girls, but every now and then he found himself checking out one of the boys by the pool. It wasn't something he really thought about since he reasoned that most guys liked to "compare" themselves to other, equally attractive guys. Sometimes, though, he'd let his mind wander and start having rather unsavory thoughts about these boys, thoughts which he usually reserved for the hot girls tanning in front of him in the pool chairs. He was always grateful to whoever it was that invented sunglasses. It was a split second one day that changed everything when one of the boys in his fantasies began to take on the appearance of his best friend. He'd snapped his eyes wide open and shifted them around, as if someone would have been able to figure out what was going on in his brain. He spent the next few weeks ruminating about that daydream. Thinking about what it all meant. He had shaken it off a few times, but one day he noticed himself daydreaming about having romantic picnics and movie nights with Carlos and he knew that it was no longer a product of his teenage hormones.

_Great! _he told himself _This is wonderful, Diamond. As if you didn't have enough problems already, you have to go and fall in love with Carlos._

Okay, so maybe it wasn't full-blown love but it was definitely some kind of feeling. James wasn't good at these things. He was a one and done kind of guy. One date, one kiss, one makeout session and goodbye. The girls he dated never really grew attached, given his reputation. He needed advice, badly, but he had no one to turn to. He refused to let a single soul know because of his reputation. He was _James Diamond _and James Diamond was a known ladies' man. If anyone ever found out that he liked a boy, his whole world would crumble before him. It's not like he expected Carlos to like him back. After all, his friend was as girl crazy as he was, albeit a lot less successful with them. It only affected Carlos a few times, though, and it was always when the rest of the guys had dates and he didn't. James had silently hoped that it was just Carlos's way of trying not to feel left out but felt mean about thinking such a thing. _No. No, James. Carlos is definitely into girls. But still..._

"Hey, James!" he heard a perky voice call out as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Oh...hi, Carlos," he answered as he lifted himself up off of his position which he now realized was extremely uncomfortable given the cramp in his side.

"How come you didn't come down to the pool with us, man?"

Man. What an informal, unromantic name to be called.

"Eh," he answered his friend, "Not really in the mood."

Carlos spun around dramatically and gave his friend a look of disbelief, "Not really in the mood? You're James Diamond! You're _always_ in the mood for some sun!"

Oh, he was James Diamond all right. He just didn't know _which_ version of James Diamond he was being lately.

"Yeah...I don't know, dude. I guess I'm just having one of those days."

"I guess, but it's still not like you. I mean, you've had 'one of these days' for a few days in a row. What's up?"

James looked up into Carlos's dark brown eyes and felt his stomach drop, a new wave of nausea overtaking him.

"I'm fine, Carlos. I swear," James replied as he clutched at his stomach. Carlos glanced at the motion and wondered if his friend had eaten at all today.

"I'm going out for a corn dog," he said, "Do you want anything? I know you love fries!"

"Ugh..." James winced as he replied "'M not really hungry."

"Oh well," Carlos said as he shrugged and his voice returned to its usually chipper tone, "More for me! See ya later!"

James waved goodbye with his free hand and watched as the smaller boy seemingly skipped out of their shared bedroom._ He's so cute,_ he thought to himself before grabbing a pillow and putting it over his face to muffle the frustrated moan that escaped him. 

"James didn't come with you?" Kendall asked Carlos as he met him along with Logan in the lobby.

"Nah. He said he wasn't hungry."

"Not hungry?" Kendall replied with a confused look on his face. "He hasn't eaten in days!"

"Really?" Carlos responded.

"Yes," Logan replied, "You'd think he'd be reaching for anything given the large amount of acids that are probably building in his stomach by now."

"Oh, Logie", Kendall sighed jokingly, clasping his hands together, "I love it when you talk all doctor-y to me."

Logan shot Kendall an unamused look as the other boy laughed like he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Carlos chuckled a little, but now he had begun to worry about James. Was something wrong with him?

"I'm sure he's fine," Kendall said, seemingly reading Carlos's mind, "He's probably depressed cause his mirror broke or something. Now, let's go get us some food cause I'm starving!"

The three walked out of lobby and into the street as they made their way to the local hot dog stand. 

Back in apartment 2J, James had fallen asleep with the pillow still loosely resting on his face. He was making light snoring sounds. Or at least they _sounded_ light with a pillow muffling them.

Carlos peeked through the crack in the door to make sure he wasn't interrupting anything or about to receive a free peep show like that one time he accidentally walked in on James getting dressed. He cringed a little at the thought of the awkwardness but was relieved when James _wasn't_ in the middle of the room in nothing but his socks this time.

His relief was short lived when he noticed the pillow covering James's face.

"Oh no, he's gonna suffocate!" he said out loud as he ran toward his friend's bed to rescue him from the dreaded pillow. "James, are you okay?"

"Huh, wha?" James said groggily as he slid the pillow off of his face. He squinted hard at the newfound brightness of the bedroom. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just saw the pillow on your face and I thought someone had snuck in and tried to kill you or something," Carlos replied with a slight sadness in his voice.

James chuckled quietly and smiled.

"You watch too much TV, dude."

He was taken by surprise when Carlos leaned in and gave him a big squeeze. His face turned bright red and he grinned widely, but tried to regain his composure when the smaller boy pulled back.

"I'm so glad you're okay!"

"I...me too," James said as he sighed quietly.

"Hey, I know you said you weren't hungry," Carlos told his friend, "but I bought you a bag of fries anyway. They're still hot and I left them..." he trailed off as he realized he had dropped them on the floor in a pillowfaced James-induced panic.

"Oh," James said as he peered around the doorway to see a bagful of fries had spilled all over the hallway, "well, that was nice of you, Carlos, but I'm still not very hungry."

"Will you be hungry tomorrow?" Carlos asked.

"...maybe," James replied curiously, "why do you ask?"

"Oh cause...I was just thinking that maaaaybe, you...wantedtohavelunchwithme?"

"I'd love to," the other boy responded.

"Good!" Carlos exclaimed, "Then it's a date!"

James's eyes opened wide and he tried his hardest to not let Carlos see the silly smile that was forming on his face.

"Guess it is, then!"

"Ooooh," Kendall called out teasingly as he stood in front of the kitchen counter finishing off the last of his chili dog, "someone's got a daaate."

"Shut up, Kendall," Carlos said as he punched his friend on the arm.

"Yeah," James said as he walked out of the bedroom.

"Wow, the bear's finally out of hibernation!"

"Technically, bears don't hibernate," Logan said matter-of-factly from the large orange sectional in the living room.

"Quiet, Mister Science," Kendall called back.

"I'm just saying..."

"All right. All right, you two," James interjected, "Enough with your little boyfriend fights."

Logan and Kendall stuck their tongues out at each other playfully as the taller of the two joined his friend on the couch to watch TV.

"James," Carlos called to get his friends attention, "I ate most of my fries on the way here, but you can have the rest if you want."

"Tell you what. Since you were so nice to save me..." he counted the small amount of fries left in the bag, "three whole fries, I'll eat them just for you."

"Good. But we're still on for lunch tomorrow?"

"You know it!"

James finished up his three french fry chunks and wiped the salt off on his jeans, then went back into his room.

"Ah, there goes the bear again!" Kendall called out from the couch. He lifted himself up and followed James into the bedroom.

"Knock knock," he said quietly as he peered around the open door.

"Can I help you?" James said, visibly moody again.

"What's up with you?" Kendall asked him. He had noticed the mood change in James lately, and while he had joked with Carlos about this being a vanity-related issue, he knew something else was up. Kendall figured he had some kind of sixth sense about these things.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what's with the attitude? What's with the sleeping all day and not wanting to go tanning and...when was the last time you washed your hair?"

"...Two days ago."

"Two whole days? James, something is totally wrong with you and I'm gonna help."

"I don't really wanna talk about it, Kendall," the other boy said, "It's...really complicated."

"Complicated is my thing, man! Lay it on me, I'm all ears," Kendall said as he settled into Carlos's bed on the opposite side of James's.

"You're not leaving, are you?" James asked, expecting the only answer he knew he would get.

"Nope." 

"YOU WHAT?"

"Shhhh," James said with a finger pressed against his mouth, "shut up, dude!"

"How...how long have you known?" Kendall asked as his voice returned to a normal, indoor level and he sat back down on the bed opposite James.

"A couple of weeks maybe. I'm just nervous. I mean...what if he doesn't like me back? Or what if he thinks I'm gross and stops talking to me? Or what if-"

"James!" Kendall interrupted, "The only way you're gonna know is if you ask him yourself."

"What? Are you insane?" James asked incredulously.

"Nooo," Kendall answered with a confidence that he usually reserved for his crazy schemes, "but I do know that Carlos would _never_ hate you. Or...think you're 'gross' or whatever. You know he loves you, right?"

"Of course he does. Just...not that way," James replied with a sad look on his face.

"Well, you don't know that for sure," Kendall said, trying to get James's attention, "Do you?"

"No, I guess not."

"Well then. On your lunch 'date' tomorrow, you should tell him and see what he says. And hey, maybe by the end of the day, you'll have your very first boyfriend!"

James sighed as he closed his eyes and fell back onto the bed.

"I'll sleep on it, but I'm not guaranteeing anything, okay?"

"Fine," Kendall said as he lifted himself off of Carlos's bed and peered over James, "And if it all goes well, I'm taking all the credit for you two getting together."

James says nothing as he throws his spare pillow at the other boy and hears his ridiculous laugh echo through the apartment hallway. 

"Wow, Diamond," James said to himself as he combed his brown locks in front of the door-length mirror he kept in the corner of the bedroom, "you've really let yourself go."

After a thorough grooming, he checked to make sure everything was in its right place. He looked good, he thought, especially for someone who had been in a stupor for the past two weeks. He brushed some stray hairs off of his shoulder and sauntered out of the bedroom.

"Well, you clean up nicely!" Carlos called out to him.

"Thanks," James said with a laugh and began to feel the first signs of a blush. _Keep it together, James,_ he told himself.

Carlos offered his arm and James gladly accepted the invitation to link his with the other boy's. They walked together out the door and headed to their lunch date at Funburger.

Normally, the place would be full of kids from all over the place, but it was a school day and a Thursday, so it was relatively quiet. The only loud noise was the music from the jukebox playing over the speakers.

Carlos insisted they take a seat at a booth because he liked to play with the buttons on the jukeboxes even if they didn't do anything. James stared at his childlike enthusiasm with an adoring smile and offered him some spare change to pick a song.

James watched as Carlos skipped happily over to the working jukebox and furrowed his brow as he took into serious consideration which song he should play.

"Another Teenage Heartbreak Love Song" by Bobby Nelson was his choice. The diner only played corny '50s love songs so there wasn't much of a selection, but James couldn't help but sigh at how appropriate Bobby's lyrics were for this situation he was in. In fact, they were almost _exactly_ like this situation. He shrugged it off as an eerie coincidence.

"Man, there's nothing but old, cheesy stuff in these jukeboxes," Carlos complained as he slid back into the red vinyl-covered seat of the booth.

"What made you pick that one?" James asked curiously.

"Eh. It was the first one I saw after I kept going back and forth. But I also like the way Bobby Nelson sings. _Ooooh, teenage love of miiiine. My heart aches for you-ou-oooouuu,_" Carlos sang loudly in the not-so-crowded diner.

"He doesn't sing as nice as you, though," James uttered before he could catch himself.

Carlos blushed and lowered his face in embarrassment at the unsolicited compliment.

"Thanks."

Their attention was snapped back up when their waitress came up to the booth.

"What can I get you guys?" she asked them.

"Uh...I'll have the two corn dogs special," Carlos ordered as James looked on in amusement at the fact that he had just eaten the same thing yesterday afternoon.

"And I will have the grilled chicken sandwich on wheat with veeeery light mayo."

Carlos scoffed quietly at his friend's choice of lunch.

"Booooring," he exclaimed.

"Hey, I didn't say anything about your order, you lunch repeater."

"At least I don't come to a greasy diner and order a _grilled_ sandwich."

The two laughed and sighed simultaneously.

"You know," James said after a moment of silence, "I gotta say it feels really good to get out of the house and be myself again."

"And I gotta say," Carlos followed up, "That I'm super glad you decide to come out with me. Uh, come with me. Together. To the lunch. Thing. Here."

Thankfully, a potentially awkward moment ended when their waitress returned with their lunch orders and sodas. James let out a sigh of relief as Carlos made excited noises at the corn dogs being placed in front of his waiting hands.

"Careful," the waitress, whose nametag said she was called Mindy, warned Carlos, "They're really hot."

The next few minutes were pure, uninterrupted culinary bliss for the two boys. Carlos because he cherished every moment spent with a corn dog and James because he hadn't eaten in what felt like years.

After they had finished and taken sips from their sodas, they both leaned back into their seats and groaned as they put their hands over their full bellies. They sat in silence for a few minutes and James took this as a time to contemplate Kendall's suggestion from the day before. He was in a good mood so far and everything had gone right. He felt at ease with Carlos and he decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Okay, so maybe I'm not the smartest guy in the universe, Carlos, but I do know one thing," James said as he leaned forward and watched his best friend absentmindedly create a vortex with the straw in his soda cup.

"What's that?" Carlos replied, not looking up from his "cokenado" as he called it.

"I know that I...love somebody," James responded with a flirtatious smile.

Carlos stopped playing with his straw and his eyes opened wide. He sat quietly as a worried look came over his features.

"Love?" He asked, "you don't love, James. You're...well, you're you. You just _like_. You think girls are hot and then you ask them out on dates and dump them right afterwards. Remember that one time two weeks ago when you went out with that girl and-"

"Carlos!" James interrupted, "I'm trying to say something here." He was taken aback by the hurried tone in his friend's voice and the look on his face. Had he said something wrong? _Oh, great_, he thought to himself, _Now he knows and he doesn't want this. Nice job, James!_

"Sorry," Carlos apologized, "It just seems like such an...un-James thing to say. Are you sick again?"

"No. I wasn't sick in the first place. Maybe_ love_sick but-"

"Stop saying that!" Carlos said, straightening up in his seat, "You are not in love, okay? You're just...infectuated or whatever."

"Infatuated?"

"Yeah, that!" Carlos responded, his face visibly scrunched into a frown, "Whatever that word is, that's what you are. Not in _love_."

"Carlos, why are you so upset? You're not even letting me finish what I'm trying to say."

"And I don't wanna hear it," Carlos said, his voice noticeably cracking and fresh tears forming around his eyes. An awkward silence washed over the booth and he used it as an excuse to rush out of the restaurant.

James immediately got up and ran behind his friend, leaving a twenty dollar bill at the table. He grasped Carlos's arm and gently tugged on it as he tried to run away.

"Let go, James," Carlos yelled, not having to even look behind him to know the familiar grip.

"No!" the other boy shouted, "Look at me! I have something I really need to tell you! Please..." His voice softened at the last word as he pleaded with Carlos.

He turned around and looked up at James but was taken by surprise at the sadness that seemed to have settled on his best friend's face._ This must really be important to him_, he thought, immediately berating himself for being so selfish and unreasonable.

"I'm sorry, James," he said quietly, "I didn't mean t-"

"It's okay. It's fine, trust me. I just...I just wish you would hear me out. Or at least tell me why the thought of me being in love upsets you so much." James had silently been praying that Carlos had the same feelings he did the entire time, but he felt incredibly self-centered for even thinking that. Then again, there were very few times when James wasn't thinking the world revolved around him.

"I just..." Carlos began to explain as he turned to face away from James, "I just don't want you to stop being my friend."

"What?" James exclaimed, puzzled at the very thought, "Why would you even think that? I will _never_ stop being your friend. I mean, unless you did something really bad to me, you know."

"I know. I know. It's not that. It's just...well you saw what happened when Kendall was with Jo. He and Logan just sorta drifted apart and I can't...I don't think I would be able to deal with something like that happening with us. I mean, other than losing my helmet and the world running out of corn dogs, the biggest fear I have is...is losing you."

James's heart sank and his mouth curled up into an involuntary smile.

"CarlosIloveyou," he blurted out, not wanting to take any chances with his emotionally volatile best friend.

Carlos's mouth opened and closed a few times as his eyebrows raised up in surprise.

"You what?" he asked, trying to make sure he wasn't hearing things.

"I...love you," James repeated, "When I was trying to explain to you at the restaurant that I loved someone, I was talking about you. And I wanted to tell you right then but you ran out on me and now I'm all nervous because I don't know if you like me or not and I can't really tell so I need you t-"

He was interrupted by the pressure of Carlos's lips on his and the boy's arms around his neck. Taken by surprise, he separated himself from the smaller boy and smiled at him.

"Does uh...does that mean what I think it does?" he asked hopefully.

"I...I think so?" Carlos answered.

"Well uh...if you need more time to figure it out," James said, "I'll give it to you."

"N-no. I'm good. I mean..." the smaller boy was visibly flustered.

James reached out for Carlos's hands and held them in his. He dipped his head down to try to meet the other boy's gaze.

"Hey, it's okay. Just...go with what you're feeling."

Carlos said nothing for a few moments before lifting his eyes to look at the face of the taller boy.

"I'm feeling like...I wanna kiss you again?" he concluded.

"Go for it," James encouraged him, "but let's do it right this time."

"Okay," Carlos responded in between giggles as James leaned down to press their lips together in a sweeter, less forceful kiss.

"Wow..." Carlos sighed as they separated after what seemed like an eternity, "You wanna go back in and get a milkshake?"

"With two straws?" James asked with a hopeful smile.

"No way! I want my own shake," Carlos responded jokingly.

James nudged the smaller boy with his elbow.

"Seriously, though. I want my own milkshake." 

Lunch turned into dinner when the two found a carnival was happening in the church parking lot a few blocks from Funburger. They spent most of the day on the rides, spinning in circles and trying to keep their lunch down. Two hours later, Carlos was still hungry, so James offered to buy the boy a corn dog, which he did not refuse despite having eaten four of them in the span of twenty-four hours. In return, Carlos found his inner strength and won James a small, stuffed puppy from a sledgehammer game, which the taller boy appreciated even though he wasn't the stuffed animal type. It was the thought that counted. 

Carlos yawned as they stepped off of the elevator and quietly opened the door of their apartment. They knew Kendall would still be awake since was the nosy type, but Logan had to get his nine hours in for health concerns.

"Heeeey, look who's back," Kendall said teasingly.

"Hi, Kendall," Carlos said sleepily, "I'd love to stay up and talk but I'm really tired and full of corn dogs so I'll let you two talk. Goodnight."

He started walking towards his bedroom before he stopped in his tracks and spun around quickly to plant a small kiss on James's cheek.

"Goodnight," he said in a gentler tone than he had used on their other friend.

Kendall shot James a mildly surprised look.

"So, uh, I take it that went well?"

"Yes," James said as he rolled his eyes, "and you were right. So thanks, okay?"

"Just think. In the future, we'll look back and whenever someone asks you how you two got together you'll be able to tell them it was cause of me."

"Yeah, sure sure. Whatever you say."

Kendall laughed loudly and patted James on the shoulder as he left to go to his own bedroom.

"You're welcome."

Logan heard the news in the morning after his long slumber and took it well, extending a hearty congratulatory handshake to both Carlos and James as if they were businessmen who had just made a successful merger. They decided not to tell Camille because she tended to get overexcited and tell everyone within a three-mile radius whenever she heard any kind of news. 

The next day, Carlos woke up and noticed the air smelled heavily of roses and candy. He stepped out into the living area of their apartment and noticed every surface had some kind of extravagant gift on it. All of which he assumed were for him from his new boyfriend.

"Heeeey, boyfriend," James said eagerly as he stepped into the room next to Carlos, "You like?"

"Look, James. Not that I don't appreciate all of the gifts," Carlos said while gesturing to the apartment, which was littered with various floral arrangements and teddy bears holding "I love you" hearts, "but I think...I think you're overdoing it."

"Oh," James said, his smile visibly diminishing "I just thought..."

Carlos reached over for James's hand and held it, looking James in the eye.

"No, it's not that I don't love this. Trust me, I've never felt more appreciated in my life. It's just...you're so _good_ at all of this and I haven't done anything other than give you my leftover hug coupons. So...I kinda feel pressured into doing these big, sweeping, romantic gestures and it's just. It's not my thing. Not that I wouldn't love to..." he trailed off.

James shook his head and smiled slightly but said nothing. Instead, he pulled Carlos into a tight hug and kissed his forehead.

"You know you don't have to do any of that, right?"

"Yeah, but I still feel bad about it."

"Don't. Just be here when I need you and I'll be good, okay?"

"Is that what good boyfriends do?" Carlos asked, lifting his head to meet the other boy's eyes.

"I don't know," James replied, "but I'm hoping mine does."


End file.
